Overview: Despite both teams having a Lancers mascot, these two teams are coming from very different places for this championship game. Norwalk has been atop the division rankings for almost the entire season and coach Jesse Ceniceros brought his team to the semifinals three out of the last five years, however, this will be its first football championship game in 36 years. Meanwhile, La Serna has been lying in the weeds of the Southeast rankings after coach Margarito Beltran brought his team to the last two division championships only to lose to Downey and West Covina. “For us, it’s a new group of kids,” said Beltran at the CIF Champions luncheon Monday. “It still boils down to kids making plays. The team that makes the most plays will win.” La Serna was victim to big plays in the semifinal against Burbank but was able to hold on for a 28-21 win. The La Serna defense has racked up 52 sacks, 12 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries this season with relentless pressure, but that’s not how teams want to attack the Norwalk double-wing rushing attack. The one real similarity between these teams is that they both line up in similar offensive formations. Both teams run a variety of fakes in the backfield, but once that’s done La Serna is much more willing to throw the ball. Senior quarterback Frankie Palmer has completed 60 percent of his pass attempts this season while racking up 2,163 yards and 20 touchdowns to seven different receivers. The balanced attack extends to the run game as well with six different ball carriers with more than 100 yards on the season and eight with rushing touchdowns. “The (Norwalk) offense is one we’ve gone against before, so we’re familiar with it,” said Beltran. “On offense, we take what the defense gives us and that’s what makes us so dangerous, we can run or pass.” Obviously, Norwalk will counter the La Serna balance with superstar senior Rashaad Penny. The Norwalk captain has 2,380 rushing yards this season with 49 total touchdowns and he is one score away from 100 touchdowns in his high school career. “They’re enjoying it,” said Ceniceros of his team’s mental state. “They know what they have to do to finish the season 14-0, and I’m confident they’ll do that. ... Every game we’ve played (in the playoffs) has been awesome preparation for this point. All of those games were a culmination to prepare us to see La Serna.”

PAC-5 DIVISION

St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei

Site: Angel Stadium, 8 p.m.

Records: St. John Bosco 13-0; Mater Dei 11-2

Overview: This Trinity League rematch in the final has one big wrinkle. On Nov. 1 in front of a capacity crowd at St. John Bosco High, the Braves’ defense dominated in a 24-2 victory. Of the 56 plays run by the Mater Dei offense that night, 28 of them were for gains of 5 yards or less and 15 of them were incomplete passes. Only four plays resulted in gains of more than 10 yards before the game was competitively out of reach. The wrinkle for this rematch is that Monarch running back Justin Allen did not play in that game. The senior was injured during the loss to Santa Margarita the week prior and still racked up 1,039 yards on 151 carries (6.8 yard average) to go with 11 touchdowns. Allan is an explosive runner who doesn’t need the edge to break off a big run. He has touchdown runs of 75, 72 and 69 yards this season; the last one coming last week in the 30-0 win over Long Beach Poly when he gained 100 yards on the ground on 14 carries. “(Bosco) is the premier team,” said Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson. “They are powerful in so many areas. They are well coached. You know the only thing I could say is that we should be relatively healthy and right now we are playing well. Do we have enough firepower to match them? I don’t know. But we are going to try to lay it on the line for 48 minutes and see where she lands.”